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28. I understand from your remarks that you have no objection whatever to the Bill, and to public abattoirs, so long as private slaughterhouses are allowed to exist besides them ?—Oh, no ! That.is quite correct. 29. And you are perfectly willing to come under all inspection? —Quite so. 30. You want to be left alone ? —Yes, provided they do not cancel our licenses. 31. Mr. Massey.] With regard to clause 3 —this clause which allows farmers to slaughter a certain number of stock —are you aware that under the present law they are not allowed to sell such stock in their own district, or within five miles thereof?—l do not know. I know that dressed lamb, mutton, and veal have been sold by them in our public auction markets in Auckland. 32. Allow me to call your attention to clause 4. My point is this: that farmers cannot possibly come into competition with butchers ?—We realise that fact, but I think it may fairly be assumed that imputation is cast on the butchers that they are the medium through which this contamination is being caused, of flesh-diseases. On the other hand, we say, Here is a loophole for all the contaminated meat in the colony to find an escape. That is our contention. 33. Mr. Symes.] Do I understand you to say that you expect the Government or the public to pay you compensation for the loss of your slaughterhouses, supposing this Bill became law and you had to kill at the public abattoir ? —The Government has been kind enough to take into consideration the leaseholder. I respectfully ask that the freeholder be entitled to the same consideration. If I have just previously renewed my lease, the fact of my license being cancelled cancels my lease. I may state that lam not personally affected under this compensation question; but I ask on behalf of those who have spent a large sum of money—they are entitled to every favourable consideration. 34. With regard to any butcher that has a slaughterhouse, if you kill at a public abattoir it is by the public you expect compensation to be paid ?—We expect favourable consideration. 35. You do not think the butchers should pay anything towards compensation for diseased cattle which have been condemned ? —The butchers should bear no loss. 36 Do you also consider the salaries of the Inspectors should be paid outside the butchers ?—Oh, no ! On that question it was suggested that we should leave the position of the Bill, as far as it affected local bodies—we should deal with the Bill from a trade standpoint. I was in hopes that the local bodies would send- representatives here ; but, unfortunately, they could not send delegates in time, or you would have had as many opponents against the Bill as from the butchers' standpoint. Butchers in our district are prepared to pay the Inspectors. 37. You object to the farmers killing. You say it is through that operation that to a great extent the disease is spread. You object to the farmers killing for their own home consumption, I suppose? —Oh, no! we do not say that; we say, for sale. But we take exception to the 3rd clause. 38. One of your contentions in favour of private slaughterhouses as against abattoirs was that your cattle would be fed, and that sort of thing. Do you feed them in the slaughterhouses?— Yes; we have grass paddocks. I can only speak at present as regards our present local abattoirs. There is not enough grass in the whole of the paddocks to supply feed for one butcher's cattle, and the best paddocks have been let to Chinamen. But in connection with our own slaughterhouses we can find grass sufficient. All this sort of evil is going on at public abattoirs. In case of a private slaughterhouse it is a matter of one man attending to his business, and having it personally inspected and attended by him from start to finish. If the Committee could see meat slaughtered at a private slaughterhouse and also some slaughtered at a public abattoir, that has possibly been jumbled about outside, and they see the heated and inflamed condition of the latter, they would notice the difference. 39. Hon. Captain Morris.] In the case of farmers killing, you say their meat, should not be allowed to compete with inspected meat ?—That is so, but we do not think it is a large order—one bullock and five sheep. 40. Mr. Buchanan.] Is the witness aware that, as regards some of the beef that may have been pointed out to him as slaughtered by some freezing companies here, that they rest the cattle for several days before they are killed ? —I know all that. It has not been pointed out to me. We have had freezing-works in Auckland, and we have had large slaughterhouses; and in our own cases, wherever we have a large supply we try to isolate the cattle. We do not leave any large numbers together, because of horning, jostling, and being heated. 41. I thought the witness told us that he would give evidence through his own knowledge as relating to the Auckland Province ?—That is correct. 42. Hon. the Chairman.] The department asked me to ask this question. This is the report of the Auckland Inspector, and he reports as follows: "The butchers in Parnell and Newmarket slaughter all cattle, sheep, and pigs in the yards at their shops." Is that true ?—They slaughter the small cattle, but not pigs. 43. Do they slaughter sheep ?—Yes ; a privilege has been extended there to those butchers, and it has not been abused. There are butchers in Parnell and Newmarket who have killed over twenty years behind their premises, in a thickly populated district, without a single complaint; and I think that is a very strong argument in favour of our having our private slaughterhouses. [At the close of his examination the witness handed in a list of the number of butchers who avail themselves of the public abattoirs, and the number of those who slaughter their own beasts (Exhibit B).] George Baynes, representing the butchers of Auckland and suburbs, said: I hardly think it worth while repeating the same thing as the former witness, because it will be only going over the same ground again. As being the individual myself who got the licenses in the private slaughterhouses in the borough—that is, being allowed to kill lambs, sheep, and calves in separate premises at the back of my shop—l have now carried this on for twenty years without complaint. My brother butchers also have the privilege in my district, when they found I carried it on successfully.